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The Daily Grind: Are there any MMO dailies that don't make you cringe?
You know what I don't think MMOs need more of? Dailies. I think most core MMO gamers are tired of a mechanic that exists, transparently and unashamedly, to keep us completing repetitive tasks on a daily basis and keep us logging in, and in some cases, paying our subs. Even a well-constructed daily achievement system and totally benign daily login rewards can be irritating. But out on the fringes of the MMO space, gamers are just discovering the allure of the daily. VG247 pubbed an editorial last week arguing that GTA Online ought to copy -- wait for it -- Destiny's "intrinsic" dailies and rewards; without them, the writer opined, players are "reminded that the grind is most certainly real." Call me jaded, but I say themepark dailies are usually just as grindy as whatever formless grind they're meant to replace, and I suspect the players who need something to do at the "end" of online co-op shooters would probably be happier with a sandboxier MMORPG to begin with. But surely there's some sort of dailies that we do like. Are there any MMO dailies that don't make you cringe? Which game can boast the best? (And can we tell GTA Online to copy those, please?) Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Elder Scrolls Online's Undaunted Pledge system promotes daily dungeons
Are you wandering around The Elder Scrolls Online in a post-Update 5 haze, lost on what to do? Wander no more: ZeniMax has released a dev blog today to give you some guidance. The guide details the pledge system of the Undaunted, whose tasks are reminiscent of daily dungeon quests in other themeparks. Starting at level 45, players can swear themselves to the Undaunted faction, which offers two daily quests to complete dungeons, one veteran and one not. Depending on how well they complete the dungeon and the difficulty of the encounter, players will be awarded reputation with the faction as well as a key to unlock a sweet chest of loot. "The Undaunted chests can contain a variety of helpful loot, from valuable Ornate items and soul gems to unique items sets and attention-grabbing shoulder pieces fashioned from the very brutes you've slain," writes ZOS. The full guide is on the official site.
Breakfast Topic: Do you revisit old dailies?
We're heading towards the end of daily quests, and while it's more than likely that no one will be mourning them, I've started to look back on them fondly since finding out they're going away. (But it's through the same aged haze of nostalgia that I look back on 40-man raiding with, so it's probably not to be trusted.) I've revisited the Isle of Quel'Danas, done past-expansion fishing dailies (I'm still trying to get those crocolisks), and done a ton of Cataclysm dailies. When I don't have to do them for advancement and I don't have to force myself into completing them every day, the dailies available really don't seem so bad. Some of them, like the Quel'danas bombing run or helping bear cubs in Hyjal, are even -- dare I say it? -- fun. But then again, that could just be the nostalgia talking. So today I'm wondering, dear readers: do you ever revisit old dailies? Do they seem more entertaining in hindsight than they did when you were on the reputation treadmill and grinding out dailies as quickly as possible? Tell us about it!
The Daily Grind: What do you need to do every day in your games of choice?
My wife and I have been exploring Loot Island (or Timeless Isle, as it's more commonly known) in World of Warcraft as sort of a daily lark. It's not our main game (that honor goes to Final Fantasy XIV) and we don't really need to keep getting more gear, but it's a lot of fun for us to just partner up and clear our way through several Elites without blinking. Actual daily quests are a third or fourth priority for us; we just need to get in that little romp. Pretty much every MMO provides some sort of incentive for logging in every single day, but there aren't many players who actually use that as their to-do list. The question for today is what do you need to do every day? Do you want to get your daily quests out of the way every single day? Do you want to run at least one dungeon? Roleplay? Earn PvP currency? Craft? Even just stand in the center of a city and spam chat channels? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Breakfast Topic: Do you still do your dailies?
Mists of Pandaria had a lot of daily quests -- a lot. We're sure you could traverse Pandaria and do every possible daily in a single day if you really worked at it... but would you really want to? This late in the expansion, I imagine a lot of us are exhausted of the same old dailies... or are just doing the ones they particularly want to do to up reputation or collect valor and other goodies. So tell us, readers: do you still dutifully do your dailies? Do you have a new alt that's started working on their own daily reputation grind? Or have you moved on and left dailies in the dust?
The Mog Log: A week of Final Fantasy XIV's patch 2.1
All right, I admit that the headline is a dirty lie. It hasn't been a full week however you slice it; the patch dropped on Tuesday, and I've only been able to play it for two days before writing this. To make up for that fact, I've devoured Final Fantasy XIV's patch with a zeal I usually reserve for hamburgers, although I still haven't seen everything there is to see. Though if I had seen all of it in two days, that would kind of be a problem anyway... The point is that 2.1 is pretty dang huge, even if it includes one feature that's a massive blemish. So let's take a look at what the patch has to offer, how the various new features hold up, and where the patch falls down -- other than with housing, which is already a great big "fall down" that will be addressed all by itself.
The Mog Log: Preparing for patch 2.1 in Final Fantasy XIV
All right, everyone, the time is nearly upon us. Final Fantasy XIV is about to unleash its first big patch. Please remain calm and take everything slowly. If necessary, painkillers may be consumed to reduce swelling. Anti-anxiety medications are not recommended. A friend of mine noted on Twitter that the presentation for this patch reads more like an expansion than just a patch, and I have to agree. There is a lot being added to the game with this patch, more than you would expect. I haven't been playing around with it on the test server thanks to the lack of a test server, but we've still seen enough information to have some idea of what comes next. So let's talk about patch 2.1. When it finally goes live, where will you go? What will you do? How can you get the most out of Final Fantasy XIV's major drop?
The Daily Grind: What will make you log on to a game every day?
I'm logging in to Final Fantasy XIV on a daily basis, but it's not for my weekly tomestone progress. I'll be back to that again as soon as the next big patch drops, but I'm not motivated to keep logging in for that. What does keep me logging in is farming items for selling, through botany and other means, as well as checking in on various roleplaying people. I might not be interested in tanking another Wanderer's Palace run, but I'm still on every day. When there's plenty of stuff that's new in a game, it's easy to keep logging in every day. But for a long-term game you usually have other things that keep you clocking in, even if the core game isn't quite as big a focal point for you. So what will make you log on to a game every day? Is it something you only do during the initial rush? Is it a matter of having good friends? Or is there some in-game activity that needs to be done daily which you will happily do? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Breakfast Topic: Will you miss your favorite daily quests?
Daily quests... love 'em or hate 'em, they're a reality of our gaming lives -- though, to much cheer, there will be less focus on dailies in Warlords. But with the thought of fewer dailies in our future, we have to look back on the dailies that were and wonder if we might actually miss them when they're gone. After all, plenty of daily quests are entertaining -- at least the first time. It's the monotonous grind of it all that gets old. Lately, I've been going through a lot of Cataclysm dailies on my monk to pick up reputation that I hadn't bothered with while leveling and -- aside from the trek from Deepholm to Uldum -- there's nothing too tedious about the process, but in a few weeks I might be singing a different tune. So what about you, readers? Do you have a favorite, do-every-day daily? A hub of dailies you particularly enjoy (or enjoyed)? And with Blizzard posed to tone down daily quests, are you going to miss them when they're gone?
Breakfast Topic: Your favorite (or least favorite) daily
Oh, daily quests. How we love... and sometimes... okay, maybe most of the time... hate you. While they're all fun the first time (or two), for many these repetitive quests become a monotonous grind that needs to be done to collect gear or items needed to advance. I find I have a low tolerance for doing the same thing over and over again, which makes these particularly painful. But, still, I try to log on every day and work my characters through their quests in hopes that one day I will reap the rewards. Well, either that or at some point I'll get distracted by something more interesting and forget about them. It could really go either way. However, not all dailies feel like such a grind. Recently leveling a character through Wrath content I've rediscovered some Wrath dailies that have been -- dare I say it? -- fun. I've found myself really enjoying fighting on dragonback around Wyrmrest Temple and charging around the Argent Tournament grounds. Perhaps, however, it's only fun because I know I'll soon level past it. But tell us, readers, what are your favorite -- or least favorite -- dailies?
Take a tour through the new daily hub of Star Wars: The Old Republic
The Czerka Corporation in Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't evil, just amoral and motivated by ill-considered greed. And sometimes, yes, that does mean that a facility goes completely rogue and outside help needs to be called in to try and salvage the situation. That's what happened on CZ-198, and if you're wondering what sort of daily tasks will be necessary to retake the facility, you can take a gander at the full rundown of the daily quests for the zone right now. The zone has four daily quests as well as a weekly component that includes both of the new flashpoints run on any difficulty. If the promise of earning credits isn't enough to get you into the daily routine, you've also got the requisite selection of rewards, including two new sets of adaptive armor and a new customization for HK-51. Even when its facilities get overrun and require large-scale intervention by paramilitary strike teams, Czerka Corporation makes your life better.
Star Wars: The Old Republic outlines the Bounty Contract Week
Bounty hunting is a thing in Star Wars: The Old Republic, to the point that there's an entire class focused around bounties and the hunting thereof. But even if you're usually a meditative Jedi, you can still pick up a few extra credits in the upcoming Bounty Contract Week coming to the game in August. A new development blog details what players can expect from this event, offering players of nearly all levels a chance to earn reputation for taking down violent criminals. Each day, players can select a single contract to hunt, with the Bounty Brokers Association providing a selection of different planets with available contracts. Veteran hunters can also hunt for a single Kingpin target, a high-threat individual who requires more accomplished hunters. Success means credits and reputation with the BBA. Players from level 15 and up can take part in these missions, which scale to the level of the participant, ensuring that anyone who wants to get in on the hunt can start taking down criminals for credits.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Flame and Frost
Well, my goodness! We've got a week of the Flame and Frost prelude patch behind us, and what a week it's been! The patch notes for this sucker were impressive; for a relatively minor patch, the Flame and Frost prelude brought in a lot of tweaks and updates. I'm kind of glad for that, as quality of life additions were top on my list for hopes for Guild Wars 2 in 2013. I'm very pleased with ArenaNet for shoring up the content that's already out rather than leaving it be in the rush to get out new content. So! Let's take a look at what ArenaNet brought us in the past week.
Patch 5.2 PTR: Reputation gain changes
One change that's arrived with the latest patch 5.2 notes is one that has to deal with bonus reputation. Players have stated how grinding and repetitive the reputation can be. A suggestion that was offered was to bring back reputation tabards so players could continue to earn reputation while participating in dungeons. This would offer players two methods to earn reputation: Dailies and dungeons. Blizzard disagreed they didn't want players to double dip as dungeons already reward loot from bosses along with valor points. The developers mentioned sometime back in December that they were planning a way to include bonus reputation through dungeons. A suggestion was brought up by our own Matthew Rossi where players could represent a faction for a limited time. That looks like the compromise solution we were looking for! Patch 5.2 PTR and Patch Notes You can now earn bonus reputation for your first dungeon and scenario of the day. You can select which reputation you choose to champion by selecting it from the reputation panel on the character screen. When you queue for a dungeon or scenario, the UI will remind you which reputation you are championing and allow you to change the reputation from there. (You cannot change that reputation once you are in the dungeon or scenario.) source The UI has changed so that the Reputation panel in the character screen displays which reputation they have purchased Grand Commendations for. That's great for people like me who've accidentally purchased the same reputation commendation twice. How about it guys? What do you think of this alternative way to earn reputation? You can still knock out your dailies but between the commendations and the bonus reputation from dailies, I wager you'll be able to hit Exalted at a nice rate.
Distro's CES 2013 Daily Issue 73.4 is out and so are we
We're cracking up over here -- literally. It's our sixth day of coverage live from CES and the long hours and lack of daylight are playing tricks on us. While the working conditions have not been kind, the news is an entirely different story. We've seen more, written more and generally dived deeper into the bowels of CES to bring you this, our final CES 2013 Daily. Now please excuse us while we curl up in a collective ball and rock gently back and forth until the screaming stops. Distro Issue 73.4 PDFDistro in the iTunes App StoreDistro in the Google Play StoreDistro in the Windows StoreDistro APK (for sideloading)Like Distro on FacebookFollow Distro on Twitter
The Roll Club
You can bet that the builders of the Serpent's Spine wall in Pandaria never planned for this to be used. Who would've guessed that a defensive fortification meant to protect Pandaria from it's enemies would also be used as a form of amusement? There's a secretive group of Golden Lotus warriors. They're called the Roll Club. But of course, we're not supposed to technically talk about the Roll Club. The Golden Lotus offers a daily quest where players literally roll down the wall. You can pick up Roll Club: Serpent's Spine from Kelari Featherfoot located in the Setting Sun Garrison. I'm not sure what the exact prerequisites are to get the quest. When I first picked it up today, I was halfway through revered with the Golden Lotus and had finished the quests involving the Battle Spear of the Thunder King, Battle Helm of the Thunder King, and Battle Axe of the Thunder King. I wish there was a timer that showed how fast you complete the course. If you can beat the course in under 70 seconds, you get the Roll Club achievement. Tips Hit every speed boost (they look like boots) within reason Avoid tar pits as they slow you down immensely Oh, and I recommend playing it with this song in the background. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Big updates for Fairway Solitaire and Junk Jack
Two of my favorite iOS games from the last few years have gotten big updates today. Fairway Solitaire is a really brilliant puzzle/card game that combines golf and solitaire in a fun way, and it's gotten a big update that adds a whole bunch of ongoing content. The game now has a "Daily Mode" where you can play a brand new challenge every single day, and earn new Challenge Cups to unlock even more courses. There's also a new card back and push notifications -- Fairway Solitaire is completely free, and that makes it one of the best cost-to-fun ratio games I've ever seen on any platform. Definitely give it a look if you haven't yet. Junk Jack has also gotten another big update, although the team behind that game has warned players not to install it just yet (there's apparently a game-breaking bug involved). Whenever the expedited update does drop, there will be a whole mess of new items in the 2D Minecraft-like sandbox title, including bows, animals to tame, new hidden treasures, lots of inventory and UI updates, and lots of revamped graphics in the world. The update sounds awesome, and Junk Jack is a great game. It's too bad the team got caught by a bug, but hopefully the next update will be out as soon as possible and everything will work fine again.
British Library digitizes 300 years worth of newspaper archives, brings 65 million articles online
Britain's historical news junkies are in for a treat today, because the British Library has just digitized a major chunk of its newspaper archive, comprised of four million pages spanning some 300 years of headlines. With today's launch of the British Newspaper Archive, users can search and browse through a staggering 65 million articles from a range of regional UK papers, encompassing the most newsworthy events from the past few centuries. Developed in coordination with online publisher Brightsolid, the archive also allows for remote article access and download, saving researchers a trip to the British Library's newspaper depository in North London. The initiative seems similar to some we've seen from the Library of Congress in recent years, though the archive isn't completely open to the public. Users can search the site for free, but will have to pay a subscription fee to download any article as a PDF. And, expansive as the selection may be, Brightsolid and the Library are aiming to digitize a full 40 million pages over the course of the next decade. Nevertheless, today's arrival marks an important first step for the British Library and, in a larger sense, British history -- on both individual and collective levels. "For the first time people can search for their ancestors through the pages of our newspapers wherever they are in the world at any time," Ed King, head of the library's newspaper collection, told the Telegraph. "But what's really striking is how these pages take us straight back to scenes of murders, social deprivation and church meetings from hundreds of year ago, which we no longer think about as we haven't been able to easily access articles about them." Be sure to check out the archive at the source link below, and be prepared to lose your entire afternoon in the process.
Daily iPhone App: Extraction Project Outbreak
Extraction: Project Outbreak is a recent title from Chillingo that's an interesting mix of shooter and what's essentially real-time strategy. You control one soldier as you fight through a series of missions, and the control scheme is pretty interesting. You touch on the screen to move around from point to point, and then you drag across the screen to line up shots on your zombie enemies. The game is a real balance of movement and gunplay, as you try to move and position yourself to keep from getting hurt even when you're surrounded by the bad guys. Action ranges from tactical to frenetic, and lots of upgrades mean that as you go along, you can make both your soldier and his weapons better. There's a full singleplayer campaign to play through, and a few different modes to check out and mess around with. Extraction is fun. The action is simple but entertaining, and the graphics range from above average to really great. It's a great title for just sitting back and murdering some zombies with, and while it runs fine on the latest iPhones, it looks and plays better on the iPad. The game's available on the App Store right now for 99 cents, with in-app purchases available for extra in-game XP or money.
Daily iPhone App: Any To Do
We're looking at apps that aren't games this week, and today's selection is Any To Do. It's a little pricey, but might be worth it for the right user. I use the excellent 2Do on my iPad, but Any To Do is nice as well. While it lacks a little bit of the syntactic sugar that 2Do has, it does use a very interesting quadrant view. Basically, your tasks are charted as Urgent, Important or not Urgent or Important. You can see a view of all of your tasks laid out according to those criteria. Most to-do apps chart tasks by date due or time entered, but I do like how Any To Do lays them out, so at a glance, you can see tasks that need to get done right away, or that take precedence on your list. Another big bonus is that Any To Do will sync with Evernote. Of course you can set up notifications and reminders for your tasks, set up repeated tasks, or send things out to Twitter, Facebook, or another calendar. Any To Do places less emphasis on organization than other similar apps. It's built more for creating priorities and lists of what you need to do. And of course, that's a great function for someone looking for a very tasked-based to-do system. Any To Do is available in the App Store for US$5.99 on the iPhone or $8.99 on the iPad. That's relatively price, but again, it's a pretty targeted app, and that quadrant view is something I haven't seen before. There are lite versions to look at, too, if you're not sure how it might work. If it sounds like the kind of task-based app you need to keep yourself moving on various projects and work, definitely give it a look.
